Steve Gibson will today set about picking up the pieces after a weekend of turmoil left Boro’s promotion dream hanging in the balance.

Aitor Karanka’s future is expected to be resolved in the next 48 hours, with club chiefs set for crunch talks with the head coach.

Karanka’s future remains up in the air this morning following dramatic developments over the weekend, prompted by the manager’s swift departure from the training ground on Friday after he was understood to have stormed out of a meeting with his players.

Steve Agnew took the training session on Saturday - as he has done since last Tuesday’s defeat at Rotherham - with the club then confirming that the assistant manager was to take charge of the side for yesterday’s game at Charlton.

Of almost 3,000 fans who voted in a poll on The Gazette’s website over the weekend, almost 2,500 said they hope to see Karanka continue as boss.

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Supporters who made the trip south for yesterday’s game could be heard chanting in support of the head coach while a banner was unfurled which read ‘Aitor forever’.

The club’s goalkeeping coach Leo Percovich showed his support by heading over to the away fans at full-time yesterday and pointing to the manager’s initials on his jumper.

Leo Percovich shows support for Aitor Karanka

It’s now over to Karanka and club chiefs to decide whether the manager can get Boro back on track or if his position has become untenable.

Despite a run of just three wins in 11 games - including defeats to a number of Championship strugglers - Boro remain in the automatic promotion places ahead of a crunch clash against rivals Hull this week.

But the uncertainty and furore of recent days must be resolved if Boro are to cling on to a top two spot.